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Aristocrats go to war over hunting

MEMBERS of Ireland’s most recent “oppressed minority” are more likely to sport tweed jackets and Burberry scarves than ANC T-shirts and Rastafarian hairstyles.

Some of the country’s most eminent aristocrats have joined forces to defend their favourite pastimes — foxhunting and hare coursing. They’re opening an Irish wing of the hugely successful British rural lobby group, Countryside Alliance.

The Duke of Abercorn and Lord Waterford will act as figureheads for the Irish branch of the organisation, which has attracted 1,000 members so far. Its first event will be a festival for blood sports enthusiasts to be held in Clonmel next month. Its highlights will include falconry displays, an archery competition, medieval jousting, clay pigeon shooting, and a terrier and lurcher show.

Gordon Anderson, a former adviser to David Trimble turned lobbyist for the Countryside Alliance Ireland, said rural pursuits would be jeopardised by the onslaught of animal rights groups in Ireland: